Afraid
by RobinxRaven writer
Summary: Robin is critically injured in a battle against a new villain, leading Raven to realize something important about herself and how she feels about their leader.


It seemed no matter how many villains were locked up, new ones managed to crop in their absence. Every three or four days, it seemed, some new super powered bad guy would come along and start robbing banks or smashing buildings.

If there was one good thing to be gleaned from it all, it kept the Titans from going stir crazy and retiring. Any time the alarm sounded in Titan Tower, the five teen heroes were at the T-Ship and on the scene in no more than five minutes. Usually, they managed to kick the bad guy's butt to jail, and be back at the tower no later than an hour after the fighting began.

Usually.

That was the case with old villains who had broken out of prison before, bad guys the Titans knew the weaknesses of. Getting Mumbo's hat, Raven possessing Plasmus to knock him out, pinning Cinderblock to the ground with steel girders, grabbing Control Freak's remote, these were all things the Titans were used to doing.

However, when new villains showed up, the battle could be drawn out much longer and there could be more damage to the city. Whenever new villains showed up, mistakes were made and often times the new guy would escape due to unfamiliarity. Usually by the second encounter, Robin (and/or Cyborg, since they were usually the brains) would come up with a plan to subdue the villain. Then, when they broke out of prison, the Titans would be ready.

Such was today, a day like any other. The Titans were all sitting in the common room, for the most part all getting along. Beastboy, Cyborg, and Robin were all playing games, passing the controller between each other whenever someone lost a life. Raven was sitting in the back, reading a book and taking the occasional sip from her tea, while Starfire was in the kitchen, rummaging around for something to eat.

It was day 5 since the last villain attack, and so in the back of everyone's mind they knew to expect something bad to happen soon. How bad, they wouldn't know until later. Starfire would be the first to be alerted, since she had moved from the kitchen to the window, and was gazing out across the bay to Jump City.

Something flashed and a column of smoke drifted into the air a moment later, and Starfire turned around to her friends, eyes widened in alarm. "There is-" She was cut off when the alarm started blaring, and everyone jumped and ran over to the window, looking at what Starfire had seen.

"Trouble. Let's go!" Robin said, and they all ran up to the roof. Everyone got to the T-Ship and a moment later they were over the burning building, which they realized was Jump City's western bank. Cyborg set the T-Ship to hover, and they all jumped out.

They discovered who was behind the attack as they got below the smoke. A man in a red and yellow metallic suit, with a pair of goggles covering his eyes. He had a metallic backpack on, and there were circuits lining his whole body.

"Hold it!" Robin yelled, and the man turned to gaze at them.

"The Teen Titans are no match for _Laser Beam!_ " The villain cried out, just before lasers shot out from his eyes, as though he were some cheap version of Superman. Everyone scattered, and his beams ran up the side of a building, shattering glass from the intense heat.

"Titans, go!"

The general formation for an attack pattern was thus: Robin and Cyborg would get in close, and keep the bad dudes attention. Raven and Starfire would keep their distance, using magic and Starbolts to keep them in one location. Beastboy would trade with Cyborg in order to shock and surprise the enemy, while Cyborg would take to using his sonic cannon. Robin would trade with Starfire or Raven, using his birdarangs to blind or freeze the enemy in place.

When Laser Beam took to flying with a jetpack, the formation changed. Raven, Starfire, and Beastboy would try to keep him from flying off to another part of the city, while Cyborg and Robin would follow on the ground. Robin saw a chance to fire his grappling hook, which wrapped around Laser Beam's legs, and Cyborg helped pull him to the ground.

He fired off more lasers, but forgot about Starfire, who came in from above and punched him so hard he flew into a nearby building. The Titans all chased him inside, yelling for everyone to run and clear the area. It was a good thing, too, because Laser Beam was starting to get desperate.

He hit a button on his arm, and his goggles started glowing red. Then, with a high pitched whine, the lasers coming out started cutting through everything. Like, _everything_. Everyone hit the deck as the walls, support columns, and anything else keeping the first two floors standing all started crumbling. The building came crashing down on the five heroes as its first two floors were melted through.

The sound of metal ringing as it hit the ground, glass shattering, wooden desks and tables breaking, and concrete breaking apart, all assaulted their ears. When everything had stopped falling, a huge cloud of dust lingered in the air. A high pitched ringing could be heard cutting through the silence as the heroes stood up.

Cyborg walked over to Laser Beam and quickly put him in handcuffs. Beastboy joined him, high fiving Cyborg for a job well done. Raven walked over to them and said, "Glad that's over with." Starfire floated over, some cement and rubble falling off of her.

"I agree! Let us begin the celebrations!" She exclaimed cheerfully, raising her fists into the air. She looked between her friends, then a puzzled expression overcame her. "Where is Robin?"

Everyone turned, looking about in different directions. "Robin!"

"Yo Robin, where you at?"

"Rooooooobin!"

Everyone began calling out for him, and Cyborg said, "Spread out, start lifting rubble. He may be injured." The others nodded and did exactly that. Beastboy turned to a gorilla and started lifting and throwing huge cement chunks to one side, while Starfire and Cyborg did the same. Raven floated up in the air, using her empathic abilities to locate him.

A moment later, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beastboy all looked up when Raven called out. "Found him!" She descended to the ground, and everyone followed her over to a pile of concrete.

"Star, help me." Cyborg said, and together the two of them lifted up the massive concrete slab trapping Robin. With a grunt, the two of them managed to lift it and…

Everyone's eyes went wide when they saw Robin. His left arm was bent at an awkward angle, and there were two pieces of rebar sticking through his torso, and another one was going through his right thigh. For a moment, time stood still as everyone held their breath, too afraid to do anything other than think, _This isn't happening. This can't be happening._

Then Robin let out a weak, barely audible gasp, and everyone snapped out of their trance.

"Robin! Hey, stay with me, alright? You're fine, you're going to be fine!" Raven ran forward, and gently cupped his face. He strained to look at her, and all she could was try and keep his attention on her.

"Dude, i-it just looks bad! You'll be on your feet no time!" Beastboy said, though his voice cracked.

Cyborg and Starfire had managed to pull away another concrete slab, revealing the base of the rebar. Using a thermal torch, Cyborg cut it away, and Robin grunted in pain as his body shifted since it was no longer supported by the metal. "We need to get him back to Titans Tower. If I try to take out the metal here, he'll bleed to death." He stated grimly, standing up and pressing a button on his arm.

Starfire and Raven looked at each, then back to Robin. "Robin, we do apologize but this is going to hurt…" Raven grabbed him by the shoulders, and Starfire grabbed both his legs. The ship was small, but it did have a small cot in case someone got critically injured and couldn't get in their pod.

"On three. 1, 2, 3!" Raven said, and together she and Starfire picked him up. Robin's mouth opened in a silent scream of pain, and everyone grimaced as Raven and Starfire carried him over to the ship. Strapping him into the cot, Cyborg put in an IV drip, which would feed him painkillers until they got back to the tower.

Robin was breathing heavily, and everyone jumped into their respective parts of the ship and headed back to the tower as fast as they could. Beastboy stayed outside of the ship and flew ahead, going into the medical bay and pulling out a stretcher and taking it to the roof. As gently as they could, they put Robin onto it and carried him back to the medical bay, into the surgery room.

Cyborg and the surgeon bots spent eight hours removing the rebar. Everyone watched from behind a glass wall, grimacing when Cyborg wrapped his hand around the pieces of metal and swiftly pulled them out. As soon as they were set aside, Cyborg began scanning the wound and stitching it up.

It was late into the evening when Cyborg finally put away all the surgery tools and wheeled Robin to another room. He walked out, pulling off his bloodied gloves. Everyone stood and approached him, anxiously waiting to hear what he would say.

"Cyborg?" Raven's voice came out heavy and thick, as though it was hard for her to speak.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Beastboy asked.

Cyborg sighed, then gave them all a huge grin. "That man is the _luckiest_ man I've ever met. He didn't puncture a lung or pierce any vital organs, his intestines weren't split, nor were there any major arteries cut in his leg. He'll be fine; all I had to do was give him a lot of stitches. He'll just be in pain for a few days, but he should be up and fighting in a week and a half."

Everyone let out a deep sigh, then turned to each other with tired smiles before Starfire trapped them all in a bone breaking hug. She kissed Cyborg on both of his cheeks before hugging him again. Cyborg pulled away, and no one realized that the metal half of his face could turn so red. "Alright y'all, I need to recharge my batteries. We _all_ do. Let's get some dinner and go to bed."

"Can we not see Robin?" Starfire asked.

"He's still under from when I used the knockout gas on him. Don't worry, we can all come by in the morning." Cyborg said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm staying." Raven said. "I'm going to try using my magic on him and see if I can't speed up the healing process." Cyborg looked her over, then nodded, and everyone left to go get some food. Raven pushed open the doors to where Robin was lying in the cot. She realized that at some point his mask had been pulled away, most likely done by Cyborg to flash a light in his eyes and make certain there was a reaction.

There were multiple tubes strung over him; one attached to his face, providing oxygen, three in his arm, one providing blood, one providing water to keep him hydrated, and the third was most likely a painkiller, but Raven wasn't sure. There were six electrodes attached to him, two on his head and the other four over on his torso.

It hurt her seeing him so… weak, so vulnerable. The only other time he'd been hurt this badly was when Slade's hallucinogen had nearly killed him. Raven clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. Slade was one thing, but some random thief? They shouldn't have been so careless.

She took a breath to steady herself, then raised her hands over Robin's torso.

And waited.

And waited some more.

' _Guess I'm still shaken up. I can't use my magic._ ' Raven thought to herself. She pulled up a nearby chair, and rested her elbows on the bed.

 _Wake up Robin. I need you._

~!~

Raven mumbled something about personal space when she felt a hand playing with her hair. She sat up and yawned, realizing that she must've fallen asleep at some point. Then, she felt fully awake as she realized who the only person playing with the strands of her hair could be.

"Hey, Raven." Robin greeted casually. His voice was a little gravelly, but at least he _could_ speak. Raven just sat there with wide eyes. "What? My eyes don't look that good, do they?" He laughed, groaning as he put a hand over his torso.

Raven snapped out of it, quickly coming up with something to respond with. "I thought they'd be brown." She gave a small smile, and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Awful." Robin chuckled as he bluntly stated the truth. "How long have I been out?"

"Since… I don't know, like 15 hours?" Raven hazarded a guess. "Cyborg worked on you for hours yesterday, and it was a little bit past dark when I came here, and now it's…" Raven looked over at the clock above the door. "10:30 in the morning. So awhile."

"What'd you come here for?" Robin asked. It was still a little bit weird seeing him without his mask. Sure, they all wondered what colour his eyes were, but Raven had never given it much thought. Now that he wasn't wearing the mask, it was hard to look away. His eyes were a deep blue, but they also conveyed a sense of… purpose? Confidence? The blue in his eyes shone with such strength, it was almost like he didn't care that he'd just been impaled the day before.

"I came to heal you, but…" Raven tried summoning her magic again, but nothing happened. "I can't."

"You're powers… What's happened? It couldn't have been Laser Beam, he wa-"

"No, it wasn't Laser Beam. It was you." Raven cut him off.

His brow furrowed, and it was obvious he was confused. "Huh?"

"I was scared I lost you."

Robin's gaze softened, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "You didn't."

"I know that." She sighed, putting her hand over Robin's. "I _know_ that. But when Cyborg pulled the concrete away, and you were just lying there, I…" Raven's voice caught in her throat, and she closed her eyes, turning away.

Robin leaned forward, using his good arm to pull her into a hug. Raven, careful not to get tangled in any of the wires, returned it, letting out a sigh as she leaned into his warmth. She didn't realize she was shaking until Robin began rubbing small circles into her back, trying to calm her down, to reassure her that he was still there.

"I'm glad you're okay."

~Afraid~

A/N

"Cyborg and the surgeon bots" sounds like a rapper group name. Also edited some of the mistakes I caught.


End file.
